WBFO Disabilities Beat

WBFO Disability Reporter Emyle Watkins sits down with Dr. Sami Schalk, a disability scholar, professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, and author of “Black Disability Politics." They discuss her book and the intersections of race and disability.

This week on the Disabilities Beat, WBFO’s Emyle Watkins speaks with Stephanie Orlando, from Western New York Independent Living, about what is at stake for disability programs if funding is paused — or ends.

This week President Donald Trump attempted to institute a freeze on federal spending that would have wide ranging impacts for the disability community.

New York State has begun the process of moving hundreds of thousands of consumers and their personal care aides from the hundreds of organizations that currently run the consumer directed personal assistance program, or CDPAP, to only one company, PPL, by April 1st. On today's episode, we hear from consumers who are concerned with the speed and transparency of the transition.

WBFO's Disability Reporter Emyle Watkins analyzes a portion of Governor Kathy Hochul's State of the State speech that caught many in the disability and mental health communities off-guard: the Governor is now supporting expanding involuntary commitment to people deemed unable to provide or unwilling to accept help with basic needs. Watkins spoke to an expert on institutionalization about the historical context of involuntary commitment, a local peer advocate about why people with serious mental health conditions are worried, and legislators who are for and against this proposal.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is now requiring the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to submit a plan to install temporary pollution control measures at their Niagara Falls chemical plant by the end of the month, and install permanent pollution control measures by October 2026.

Twenty-six years ago this month, a thirty-two-year-old Fredonia native died after being pushed in front of a New York City subway car. New York state hasn't been the same since. Just months after Kendra Webdale's death, a law was passed in her name, allowing for adults with a history of non-compliance with mental health treatment to be placed under an Assisted Outpatient Treatment Order, or AOT. This year, the governor is proposing changes to this law and involuntary commitment.

The United Steelworkers union (USW) is now urging Goodyear to reduce emissions of a bladder carcinogen being released into the air around their Niagara Falls chemical plant. USW represents about 40 workers inside the plant.

The order, issued in the case of Glidedowan, LLC d/b/a All-American Homecare v. New York State Department of Health, prevents the DOH from requiring the petitioner to convey to "any third party" information about consumers and their personal care workers, or notifying those consumers and their personal care workers about a transition.